Where to Stay in the Blue Mountains

The first question is not which village. It is whether to stay at all, because a night up here buys back four hours of driving and unlocks three departures a day-tripper can never take. Here is the arithmetic, then the villages. If a day trip is the plan after all, the day tours to Blue Mountains from Sydney run from the city every morning.

Day trip or overnight — the honest arithmetic

A guided day from Sydney runs ten to eleven hours, and about four of those are the vehicle. That leaves six or seven hours in the mountains, of which Scenic World or a wildlife park may take two. It works, and thousands of people do it happily, but it is a long day with a fixed shape.

A night changes three things. You get the escarpment at dawn, when the coaches are still on the highway. You can book the three departures that start up here rather than in Sydney — the three-hour fire-trail run, the eight-hour locally based day capped at four travellers, and the stargazing session. And you lose the drive home in the dark.

Katoomba

The obvious base and the busiest. Echo Point at one end of the main street, Scenic World at the other, the railway station at the top, and everything walkable between them. The Carrington Hotel has stood at the head of Katoomba Street since the 1880s and is a landmark in its own right. Best if you have no car: this is the one village where you do not need one.

Leura

Ten minutes east and noticeably quieter. One street of shops, galleries and a bakery that turns up in traveller reviews by name, with Gordon Falls Lookout a short drive off it. Best if you want the lookouts without the coach parties at your door, and you are happy to drive or catch the Explorer Bus for the ten minutes to Echo Point.

Blackheath

Twenty minutes north of Katoomba and facing an entirely different valley. Govetts Leap looks down the Grose rather than the Jamison, and it is the quietest of the major lookouts. Colder than Katoomba, higher up the range, and the base most walkers choose. Best if the walking is the point.

Medlow Bath

Between Katoomba and Blackheath, and essentially one building: the Hydro Majestic, a long Art Deco hotel strung along the clifftop above the Megalong Valley. There is very little else here, which is either the appeal or the objection. Best for a view from the window rather than a village to walk around.

Glenbrook and the lower mountains

The first town inside the park boundary, an hour closer to Sydney and several hundred metres lower, which means several degrees warmer. It is also where the only vehicle fee in the whole park applies — $8 a day at attractions in this area, on weekends, public holidays and school holidays. Best if you are heading further west afterwards, or if the e-bike ride into the Blue Labyrinth is what you came for; it starts at the railway station here.

Camping in the national park

The National Parks and Wildlife Service runs campgrounds inside Blue Mountains National Park, and they are booked through the service rather than privately. The park is always open, though parts close overnight and it may close in poor weather or high fire danger, so a camping plan needs the alerts page checked the night before rather than the morning of. Nights are cold: Katoomba's July overnight average is 2.6°C.

What staying over unlocks

None of those four fits inside a day trip from Sydney, because the day trip is already spending their hours on the highway.